This is not a criticism - I love how much attention this game has been getting. I’m just not understanding why BG3 has been blowing up so much. It seems like BG3 is getting more attention than all of Larian’s previous games combined (and maybe all of Obsidian’s recent crpgs as well). Traditionally crpgs have not lit the world on fire in this way. Is it just timing of the release? Is it a combo of Divinity fans and new D&D fans and Baldur’s Gate oldheads all being stoked about this release for their own reasons? Or something else?
Note:I have not played it yet myself, just curious what folks think?
The short version:
- Game is good, came out at the right time, had a lot of hype and lived up to the hype
Longer details:
- The game is just really well made. It’s extremely fun, very polished (except for a few weird bugs), and complete
- It has a massive IP tied to it. This game had impossible levels of hype and it met those expectations somehow
- The recent D&D movie was a large success, and D&D in general has been the most popular it has ever been lately
- Divinity OS 2 Definitive Edition was very well received, people trust Larian to deliver a good product
- People are sharing this game with their friends. They had a strong marketing push as well as really strong word of mouth
- Final Fantasy 16 left a lot of us wanting a more traditional RPG after FF16 was anything but traditional
- We currently live in an era of games like Diablo 4 which ask for a $70 price tag, and then also have a paid battle pass and paid cosmetics. This game came out at $60 content complete with no additional microtransactions. Ultimately that makes this game much easier to reccomend to people.
It’s not perfect or anything, but it feels like a release with very pure intentions and people seem to resonate with that. No micro transactions, no lootboxes, no DRM (not even Steam’s is implemented), no release day DLC, fast hotfixing, and maybe with the promise of classic expansion packs. The sort of practices that people want to encourage, packaged with a formidable and generally well put together game.
When bigger, more corporate dev studios come out and give it free marketing by saying how unrealistic it is to make games like it… that’s free, excellent publicity.
It’s a perfect digitization of D&D 5th edition - it’s like having an automatic dungeon master using the rules and regulations we’ve been playing with on paper for ages.
It has a massive plot that can vary wildly on playthroughs depending on how rolls go, just like the real version.
It’s four-player co-op with PVE in an age where cooperation is increasingly rare outside of competitive team games.
It’s a well designed, properly built, finished product that can be expanded on with DLC, rather than using them to address core gameplay issues. (looking at you Paradox)
Sure, but people were really mad earlier this year because Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns D&D tried to pull some licencing related shenanigans that would have massively fucked over the community. People were boycotting the movie a couple of months ago over that. It’s interesting, that Baldurs Gate seems to not be affected by this at all.
Yeah because Twitter is not a real place. The actual D&D community spoke with their wallets and they said “we like a good, finished product without stupid terms of use” and all bought BG3. People who don’t even play D&D bought BS3 to play with folks who do play D&D.
Ss
First you draw an “S” . . .
then you draw a more different “s” . . .Consummate vees
Trogdor ended up being the big bad of my brother-in-law’s homebrew campaign that he ran for our family D&D group
Can you imagine what the mod scene for this game will look like in a year or so? It’s going to be amazing.
@ivanafterall @theangriestbird @canis_majoris Did they announce mod support?
https://larian.com/support/faqs/mod-information_77
We loved what our modding community did with DOS2, and we’re excited to see what they’ll do with BG3. Modding will be supported after the full release, though not exactly at launch.
I would expect some news in the coming weeks.
@dingus Can’t wait to have the first two BG remastered à la Skyblivion. Maybe.
It’s just a quality Western RPG, the like of which we haven’t seen since Bioware was bought.
Good products create buzz; I really think is is simply that.
DOS 1 and 2 were almost on par with BG3 imo.
Pillars of Eternity was also really good.
How about those Pathfinder games? How do they stack up?
Only played the first one which was pretty good. It’s super big on character customization as it has a million race/class combinations. A bit more extreme than the rest
It seems like BG3 is getting more attention than all of Larian’s previous games combined (and maybe all of Obsidian’s recent crpgs as well).
Legendary brand name which the game actually lives up to.
As I see it, it’s a confluence of things which have captured the zeitgeist:
- Larian D:OS games have been very well received.
- Baldur’s Gate and the Infinity Engine games are beloved.
- Final Fantasy XVI, the big JRPG for the year, is squarely an action game and some view that as off-kilter. Baldur’s Gate 3, the big CRPG for the year, is squarely an RPG.
- D&D is a big property and new D&D games often gain a fair bit of attention.
- People seem to appreciate having no in-game purchases.
These five things, in my opinion, have pushed Baldur’s Gate 3 to the front of media outlets and, in turn, to the forefront of conversations.
D&D itself is close to the highest popularity it’s ever been at (I suppose with this game now it is at the peak), what with the movie having brought mainstream attention to it and Critical Role and other actual play shows bringing buckets of attention to the game/TTRPG hobby over the last 8ish years.
It’s Minsc obviously
My understanding is that it is a complete game with no microtransactions to shove along with it. After that I believe it is because it is really really good and not a common genre to get the spot light. Mainly the first part.
There’s also the reaction from other developers claiming that the game “sets an unrealistic standard for what to expect out of a game” despite it being exactly what people want from a triple A studio. Just a complete, well made, functional game with no microtransactions
It’s a great game, but so was Divinity: Original Sin 2. The main difference, besides the rules swap, is the cutscenes and dialogue animations.
I think BG3 is riding on the D&D brand and marketing campaign. In my mind there isn’t a massive difference between BG3 and D:OS2 (or other titles they’ve done) from a pure gameplay perspective.
Regardless, I’m for it. Hopefully we’ll see more innovative and high budget CRPGs.
It’s a combination of good timing, a perfect product and going against the direction of most AAA-studios.
Though BG2 is more than two decades old, a lot of us still considers it one of the best games ever. I think quite a few of us have been eager to return to forgotten realms. That’s one group.
Then there’s a group of Divinity fans (some overlapping the old BG group) waiting for Larians next RPG.
Those two groups would be the critical mass for creating hype. Would the game live up to the old games? Would it be as good as Divinty?
Then comes the first reviews and people get to play the beta, and though the first few months were rough, once we got close to release it was clear, that BG3 would not only live up to its expectations, it would smash through the roof.
Now you have your core fan base talking about how good this game is, how do you sell this to people who normally don’t play this type of game?
Well, talk to them in a language they understand. This game is complete from day 1. No DLC. No ingame shop. Just a complete game that you can play over and over again with new ways of completing it… oh, and you can co-op with your friends. Even on the couch in split screen.
There are simply not anything of major significance to criticize about this game. You may not like it, or the genre is not for you, but as a complete product it’s simply perfect.
As a player you get the feeling that Larian focus on the game first where others focus on money first. That may not be the whole truth, but it’s the feeling this is creating, and hopefully other studios will acknowledge that there are other ways to do things.
No in-game store
The game isn’t shit
People are beyond bored of 95% of the absolute trash that’s being pumped out by the asinine asshole accountants. (AAA Studios)
It’s nice seeing something that isn’t even close to trash be released.
Side question:
Is it worth playing if you’re not into dnd? I saw lots of replies mention how it perfectly implements dnd 5e but that has 0 value for me. Is the game itself good not counting the dnd association, lack of anti features, release anticipation etc?
You’ll be fine. It’d be different if you were familiar with and disliked D&D.
That seems like a good question.
I guess the marketing team did a really good job?
Yes, that too.
And dungeons & dragons is incredible popular at the moment.
And Larian did a very good job with the last games and gained a big fanbase.
And the original Baldurs Gate Games are considered cult among older pc gamers.
No micro-transaction bullshit.
And last but not least: It’s an incredible game.